To: The Wellesley Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: Announcing a $24 Million Energy and Sustainability Initiative for Wellesley
Date: October 29, 2018
At Wellesley, we are dedicated to creating a more sustainable campus and reducing our carbon footprint to help counteract the threat of global warming. By taking actions to limit our greenhouse gas emissions now, we increase our ability to achieve our ultimate objective of carbon neutrality.
Today, I am pleased to announce a significant step towards that objective: the launch of a multipart energy initiative that will enable Wellesley to exceed our goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions set forth in the College’s current Sustainability Plan as approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2016.
The Power4Women task force, composed of members of Wellesley’s Board of Trustees, faculty, administrators, and students, has worked for the past 12 months to assess the energy needs of the College and to begin actualizing the commitments made in our Sustainability Plan. With a focus on reducing the College’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, the group’s work became more urgent this summer when the College’s 24-year-old cogeneration plant failed.
This month, the task force recommended significant investments to implement energy conservation measures, and sharply reduce the use of natural gas and fuel oil on campus for electricity generation. Based on these recommendations, the Board of Trustees has committed approximately $24 million to be spent over the next three years.
This investment will achieve five key outcomes:
- Lowering the College’s electricity use by 18 percent and thermal energy use by 6 percent from current levels.
- Reducing the College’s greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent compared with the 2010 baseline.
- Reducing the College’s annual utility costs by approximately 10 percent, which will partially offset the debt service costs associated with these capital commitments.
- Ensuring the dependability of the College’s electricity supply.
- Positioning the College to expand renewable energy use in the future.
To achieve these commitments, the College will make the following improvements in our buildings and central utility plant:
- We will spend $6 million to improve energy efficiency in our campus buildings.
- We will replace the College’s steam absorption chiller plant with an electric chiller plant.
- We will decommission our five natural gas electricity generators and partner with Wellesley Municipal Light and Power to provide the College with more renewable electricity.
- To help lower our annual utility costs, we will construct a “peak-shaving” power plant that will generate electricity during peak electrical-use periods (approximately 600 hours each year) and during power grid failures.*
- We will accelerate ongoing discussions with potential partners to increase production of energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar power.
We are committed to achieving the Sustainability Plan’s 2026 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal by the time these measures are completed, which we project will be in 2021. These actions will also improve the energy efficiency of our buildings and strengthen the resiliency of our electrical supply.
This multipart energy initiative is a first step only. We recognize that this critical work is ongoing, and that we must maintain focus and commitment to achieve our objective of carbon neutrality. To that end, I would like to announce that the Power4Women task force will be reconstituted as E2040, a new working group of the Board of Trustees that will build on the momentum and work of Power4Women to develop the longer term plan to achieve carbon neutrality.
E2040 will explore and recommend specific ways the College can progress towards its environmental goals while upholding its educational mission, financial commitments, and other institutional priorities. The group will be charged with creating an energy master plan for Wellesley’s electrical and heating infrastructure and campus energy usage, with the goal of reducing our electrical and heat consumption, increasing the portion of our electricity that comes from renewable energy sources, and transitioning campus buildings and the central boiler plant to more environmentally sustainable technologies that can serve as the building blocks for a carbon-neutral future.
The Board of Trustees will receive a status report from the E2040 working group in April 2019, which will be shared with the larger Wellesley community.
I want to thank the members of Power4Women who worked on these issues so tirelessly, including over the summer. We are grateful for your efforts, which have carried us so far.
I will update the community and we will hear from the new E2040 working group in the weeks and months ahead. You can also track our progress on the College’s Sustainability webpages.
We all share a profound responsibility to safeguard our world. I look forward to continuing our work together in service to a more fully sustainable future.
*This bullet was inadvertently left out of the original Announcement, which was updated 11/02/18 in order to be consistent with the 10/29 Daily Shot.
